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ITEST Hosts 9th Annual Online Summit

The National Science Foundation established the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers Program to respond to concerns about the shortage of professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to seek solutions to help ensure the breadth and depth of the STEM workforce.

On Feb. 29 and Mar. 1 in Washington, DC, the ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC hosted its 9th annual online summit—“Developing Replicable Models for STEM Workforce Development”—convening more than 200 NSF-funded principal investigators,evaluators, scientists, researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers, online and face to face. The focus was on strategies that ultimately address the shortage of, and lack of diversity in, the STEM workforce in the United States.

For nine years, ITEST projects nationwide have been successfully supporting young “makers," future inventors and members of the STEM workforce, and in his keynote address, Make Magazine editor and publisher Dale Dougherty said: “I really believe that we’re all makers, that all of us make things, and it’s part of our human nature to do so.”

Co-Principal Investigator and EDC Senior Research Scientist Carrie Parker and colleagues shared findings from the ITEST Management Information System Questionnaire and evaluation. SRI’s Vera Michalchik and Patrick Shields and Westat’s Joy Frechtling presented on types of evidence that describe ITEST projects’ successes. Participants explored current issues in STEM career development with David Blustein of Boston College, Julia Martas of Washington, D.C., Schools, and Rich Feller of Colorado State University.